Game apparatus



Jan. 1; 1924.

H. W. STEINMETZ GAME APPARATUS Filed Aug. 25, 1921 ll l/A/l I as A TTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 1, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN W. STEINMETZ, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AUTOQUIP MFG. COMPANY, INC., OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

GAME APPARATUS.

Application filed August 25, 1921.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HERMAN W. STEIN- METZ, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements-in Game Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descr1p tion of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to games and toys, and more particularly to games in which the element of chance is furnished by a draw or cast on the part of each player to further or retard his progress in the play, and the invention has for its object to provide a simple, cheap and convenient apparatus of this character that may be quickly operated and that will work with certainty and fairness to all the players. To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top view of a game device constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view thereof with the cover or top removed;

Figure 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 through the'casing of the device only;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged section through the axial parts of the apparatus, and

Figure 5 is a section, partially broken away, on the line 55 of Figure 3 looking in a downward direction.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts,

My invention in its present embodiment contemplates the use of a casing that can be conveniently carried in a pocket with a spinning dial therein the characters upon which are viewable one at a time through an index opening in the casing while a manually controlled sto device may be released at the election of t e operator to instantly halt the dial and give a reading. Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indi- Serial No. 495,226.

cates a flat cylindrical casing of this character having a flanged cover plate 2 secured thereto by screws 3. The cover plate is proto the bottom of the casing atits center to project axially toward or through the opem ing 5 is a spindle 7 having a conical upper end to provide a sensitive bearing point. A dial 8 is located within the casing, being of substantially the interior diameter thereof and is rotatably mounted upon the spindle 7 by means of a semi-tubular spinning stem 9 that projects through the opening 5 to the exterior to be hand operated, the concave bottom of a cylindrical bore 10 in the stem resting upon the point of the spindle as a bearing.

An enlargement at the lower end of the stem 9 upon which the dial 8 is superposed and to which it is secured by rivets 11 is in the form of a star wheel 12 hereinafter referred to as the stop wheel. A series of characters 13 circularly arranged on the dial are adapted to show one at a time through the index opening 4, as in Figure 1, and there are as many stop points on the star wheel 12 as there are characters. Pivoted to the bottom of the casing 1 at 14 is a bell crank stop lever 15 having a V shaped end portion 16 adapted to engage between and two points of the stop wheel and halt the latter and the dial with one of the characters 13 in register with the index opening 4. This arm or lever is normally held engaged as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, by a semi-circular leaf spring 17 secured to a pin on the casing bottom at 18 and having its other end hooked into a knot in the stop lever 15 and 19. An operating portion 20 on this arm of the bell crank projects through the slot 6 in the casin for manual operation, and when depressed y the thumb or finger as in Figure 5 it releases the stop wheel 12 and dial 8 for spinning movement.

In operation the player presses upon the member 20 with the hand in which the easing is held and spins the dial by means of the stem 9 with the other hand. He may allow it to spin for as long or short a period as is agreeable to the players and then release his pressure on the member 20 so that the spring 17 throws the portion 16 of the stop lever against the stop Wheel 12 and halts it as i igurgs l and 2 with a Character 13 al'fne wiflithe openings: which registers the play for or against the player. As the dad rotates very rapidly the member 20 may '4 re ease'd'ahhpst' instantly thereafter and still maintain afairelement of chance as to the reading that will be given.

It will be noted that the dial is normally held locked so that when the device is not in use it will not rattle or be apt to become worn "or disai'ranged.

The apparatus "of my invention may be used in the place of castingdice or spinning tops or drawing cards to determine the playeis fortune in any game in which the element of chance enters, and the characters 13 may be such as will be applicable to that particular game,

I claim as my invention:

In a game device the combination with a flat, cylindrical casing having an index opening and an axially alined opening in its upper face and a slot in its peripheral Wall,

of a dial rotatalily mounted within the casing and provided with characters adapted to successively register with the index opening and with a spinning stem projecting through the axial opening ofi the casing, a star shaped stop wheel secured to the dial, a bell crank stop lever adapted to engage between points of the stop Wheel and having a manually operable release arm projecting through the peripheral slot in the casing and a semicircular l'eaf spring partially stop wheel and engaging the stop arm to hold it normally disengaged.

' HERMAN W; STEINMETZ.

encircling the I 

